Barth, Karl (1886-1968)

Swiss
Protestant pastor and professor, widely regarded as the greatest Christian
theologian of the twentieth century. He
criticized the anthropocentrism of liberal theologians such as Friedrich
Schleiermacher (1768-1834), opposed Nazi ideology, and rejected natural
theology. Throughout his many
publications and, especially, in his multi-volume Church
Dogmatics, Barth retrieved and reinterpreted the Reformed emphasis
upon the triumphant grace of the Word of God by way of the concrete event of
Jesus Christ as he is received in faith through the biblical witness and
preached in the ecumenical Church.